And as soon as two persons fall really in love, they’d ask their parents to get acquainted in order to begin the preliminary conversations that could end with a marriage. Several meetings could often be indispensable before finding a final agreement. According to the regions, three visits are particularly important. The first one is about getting to know each other’s intents, called the Khan Thâme, the second visit is about commitment, called Khan Pharm and, finally, the engagement itself, called Khan Mark Dèng.
In Laos, the engagement constitutes one of the most delicate stages of the marriage because everything could still collapse. The introduction’s visit is generally carried out, not by the own parents of the future bridegroom, but by the close relations of the family to whom we entrusted the mission to go to test the ground. They are called Phor-shû / Mè-shû or loaned parents, who have to be a well united couple which had already founded a stable family.